Many people still use PBNs, as they consider them to be a quick-fix for lackluster rankings. In some cases, websites have seen positive results, but Google has been cracking down on PBNs since 2012—and that doesn’t seem to be changing.

Checking regularly makes it easy to keep on top of anything that seems suspicious, but Monitor Backlinks will also send you automatic notifications to let you know of newly added links—making your job even easier.

3. Irrelevant Guest Posting

Guest posting is still a great way to expand your reach and get high-quality backlinks.

But, you should look at guest posting as a way to connect with an audience similar to your own. It should not be used as your primary link building strategy.

Your guest posting goal should be targeted blogs with credibility and the ability to give your site more exposure.

Don’t post wherever will take you. Seek out posting opportunities on sites with a similar relative quality to yours and consider how the link will work in the context of the post itself and the site.

Bad SEO: Keyword Sins

Keywords are the foundation of the SEO process. But, many marketers misunderstand the research process.

Sure, they might be selecting keywords that get the gist of what their product or service provides, but the lack of specificity means that they’re missing out on keyword opportunities that can make or break their SEO success.

Here are some of the biggest keyword mistakes you might be making:

4. Insufficient Keyword Research

You want to make sure you’re using the words people actually use.

Now, if you’re unsure whether you’re doing things right, it might be smart to start from square one. For the sake of brevity, we’ll refer you to HubSpot’s guide to conducting keyword research.

It’s important to note that you’ll want to use a few different tools to find the right keyword mix.

5. Failing to Account for Customer Intent

Commercial intent words only make sense for sites that actually sell something.

Words like “buy,” “discount” and “coupons” all indicate the searcher is trying to make a purchase. Don’t use these if you don’t have anything to offer, or you’ll risk getting penalized for irrelevant content.

Bad SEO: Content Sins

8. Blog Spam

If you run or contribute to a WordPress site, you’ve probably noticed the irrelevant, incoherent and sometimes crude comments that show up in the comments section.

While you might think of blog spam as an annoyance, not taking responsibility can put your rankings and your readers in jeopardy. If a reader clicks on a bad link, they may be exposed to malware. Meaning, they’re likely to avoid your site in the future—the digital equivalent of food poisoning.

Google scans your website for dubious domains—and even one bad link in the comments section can result in a penalty.

Configure your WordPress account to send comments to moderation. This way, you’ll receive an email every time someone posts a comment, and you’ll need to approve it before it gets published.

9. Spun or Low-End Content

Content spinning is the SEO equivalent to how high school students write reports. Basically, the term refers to the practice of taking content from another website and rewriting it, so it’s just original enough to pass Copyscape.

10. Clickbait

The point of these articles, along with the “Worst Bikini Bods” and “Stars Gone Too Soon,” is to get more ad views. In the case of some businesses, promoting these terrible articles means bog money.

That said, it’s not very effective if you’re trying to generate leads or increase product sales.

Clicks aren’t everything.

You might be getting a lot of traffic, but how much time are users spending on your page? Where are your conversions at? If people are bouncing away from your site due to confusion about the content, your reputation will suffer.

Learn How SEO Works with Link Building (5-Part Guide) There’s an old SEO strategy that still crushes it. Know what it’s called? Link building. And if you’re not actively using it to rank higher in search results, you should be. Based on my own experiences, most marketers don’t use link building correctly because they’re not really sure how it...